The Iris Nebula

NGC 7023 in Cepheusresembles the Bearded Irises that bloomed around the first house of my youth. The source of the popular name Iris is credited to Daphne, wife of astro-imager Tony Hallas. Hidden amongst its beautiful blue reflection nebulosity and touches of pink emission gasses is a rather terrifying skull face- do you see it? The bright central star, a mere 5,000 years old, would be the middle of its forehead. The Iris is 1,300 light-years distant and six ly across. The NGC designation refers to an open cluster of stars, while the nebula itself is more correctly identified as LBN 487 or vdB 139.LARGE